The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1887-05-04
GENERAL GRANTS ENGLISH.
Mark Twain Defends the Hero Against
Matthew ArnoId's Criticisms.

Mark Twain Defends the Hero Against
Matthew ArnoId's Criticisms.
At the Army and Navy Clubs celebra-
ton of General Grants birthday in Hart
ford, CT, Mark Twain delivered the fol-
lowing address, which brought down the
house:
] will detain you with only just few words
Just few thousand words-and then give
place to Il better Elan-if he has been created.
Lately n great and honored author, Matthew
Arnold has been finding fault with General
Grants English. That would be fair enough,
may be, If the examples of imperfect En-
glish averaged more instances to the page
in General Grants book than they do in Mr..
Arnold's criticism upon the book, but they
don't. Laughter and applause. It would be
fair enough, may be, if such instances were
commoner in General Grants book than they
are in the works OF the average standard author,
but they aren't In truth General Grants der
elections in the matter of grammar and con-
struction not more frequent than are such
derelictions in the works OF a majority of tho
professional authors of our time and Of all
time-authors as exclusively and painstakinRly
trained to the literary trade as was General
Grant to the trade OF war. In Mr.. Arnold's
paper on General Grants book we find couple
OF grammatical crimes and more than several
examples of crude and slovenly English. The
following passage is fair illustrations
Meade suggested TO Grant that he might
wish to have Immediately under him Sherman,
who had been serving with Grant in the West.
He begged him not to hesitate IL he thought it
for the good of the service. Grant assured him
that he lad no thought of moving him and in
his memoirs after relating what had passed, he
adds" ETC.
ITO read that passage n couple OF times would
make a man dizzy; to read 1t four times would
make him drunk.
People may hunt out what microscopic notes
they please, but, after ALL the fact remains and
cannot be dislodged that General Grants book
is a great and, in its peculiar department. unique
and unapproachable literary, masterpiece. In
their line there is higher literature than those
modest simple memoirs Their style is at least
hawless, and no man can improve upon it and
great books are weighed and measured by their
style and matter, not by the trimmings and
shadngs Of their grammar. There is that about
the sur which makes us forget his spots and
when we think of Gen. Grant our pulses quicken
and his grammar vanishes; we only re nember
that this is the simple soldier who, all untaught
OF the silken phrase makers, linked words to-
gether with an art surprising the art of the
schools and put into them something which
will still bring TO American ears as long as
America shall last the roll of his vanished
prums and the tread Of his marching hosts
lTumultuous applause.
What do we care for grammar when we think
Of the man that put together that thunderous
phrase, Unconditional and immediate surren-
der and those Others Il propose to move inn
mediately upon your works, Il propose TO Tight
il out on this line IL il takes all SUMMER APP
plause. Mr. Arnold would doubtless claim that
that last sentence is not strictly grammatical;
and yet, nevertheless, il did certainly wake up
this nation hundred million tons OF Al
fourth proof, hard-boiled hide-bound grammar
from another mouth could not have done. And,
finally, we have that gentler phrase-that one
shows that in his soldier heart there was room
for other chan CORY war notices, and in his
tongue the gift to fifty praise them-Let us have
peace" prolonged applause and cheeringI